Murch- Getting screwed again?

[jsteele]

This is outrageous. There is no other word for it. I think we should try to help Murch out here.

If you follow the link in the first post of this thread, there is a request to contact Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles to request additional funding. Connect information in here:

http://murchschool.org/contact-information-for-city-leadership/

and a sample letter is here:

http://murchschool.org/sample-letter-to-mayor-bowser-on-underfunding-of-murch-modernization/
(put this in your own words)

I know that it is easy to write Murch off as a rich, self-absorbed WotP school, but that is really not the case. I think all of us who value quality eduction should take a minute to contact Bowser and Niles on Murch's behalf. I'd also add Council Member David Grosso to the list.

[Anonymous]

http://www.thegeorgetowndish.com/thedish/ellington%E2%80%99s-ballooning-cost-sparks-dc-audit

"Over the years, costs for the renovation of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts have ballooned from $71 million to now nearly $178.5 million. The D.C. auditor is now trying to figure out exactly how that happened."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-auditor-school-systems-capital-program-lacks-accountability/2015/06/30/57c89056-1eda-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2015/07/01/audit-school-modernization-agencies-broke-rules-didnt-keep-track-of-money/

"The District agencies in charge of school modernization broke rules, spent money on the wrong projects, and couldn't account for millions in modernization spending, according to a new report from the D.C. Auditor."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And then when you think about what DCPS has sunk into Ellington and Dunbar, you come to the conclusion that Bowser and DCPS hate young non-poor children.

Most of those decisions predate Bowser; it's the old "Chocolate City" Democrat machine in action. Now personified in Bowser.

What would it take for a more capable and inclusive leader to win DC's Democratic primary next time?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:This is outrageous. There is no other word for it. I think we should try to help Murch out here.

If you follow the link in the first post of this thread, there is a request to contact Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles to request additional funding. Connect information in here:

http://murchschool.org/contact-information-for-city-leadership/

and a sample letter is here:

http://murchschool.org/sample-letter-to-mayor-bowser-on-underfunding-of-murch-modernization/
(put this in your own words)

I know that it is easy to write Murch off as a rich, self-absorbed WotP school, but that is really not the case. I think all of us who value quality eduction should take a minute to contact Bowser and Niles on Murch's behalf. I'd also add Council Member David Grosso to the list.

Thanks, Jeff, and remember this ironic bit of history:

"In 1997 members of the Murch Elementary School community approached the National
Trust for Historic Preservation with concerns about the deterioration of the exterior of the
1929 school building. The Trust awarded the Murch Home and School Association a
$2500 Preservation Services Grant. The purpose of this grant was to provide a
framework for preliminary planning of an architecturally compatible new addition to the
Murch Elementary School; heighten community awareness of the historic and
architectural significance of the existing school building and the surrounding
neighborhood; and to teach students about the community history, the architecture,
historic preservation issues and the planning process.
In 1999, at the urging of the 21st Century School Fund, the Murch Home and School
Association requested that the National Trust permit the Murch grant to be used to
ensure that the history and architecture of all public schools in the District of Columbia
be considered in the long-range educational facility master plan being developed by the
school system.
We thank the Murch Elementary School parents, Murch teacher Deborah Ziff Cook, and
especially principal Dr. Marjorie Cuthbert. They made this report possible because of their
willingness to look beyond the many pressing concerns of their own school to the needs
of the entire district. We would also like to thank Mary Gill, principal of Murch Elementary
School from 1984 to 1998 and current chief academic officer of DCPS, for her strong
support of the early activities of this project."

The title of that report is "Replace or Modernize: The Future of the District of Columbia's Endangered Old and Historic Public Schools" May 2001

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:This is outrageous. There is no other word for it. I think we should try to help Murch out here.

If you follow the link in the first post of this thread, there is a request to contact Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles to request additional funding. Connect information in here:

http://murchschool.org/contact-information-for-city-leadership/

and a sample letter is here:

http://murchschool.org/sample-letter-to-mayor-bowser-on-underfunding-of-murch-modernization/
(put this in your own words)

I know that it is easy to write Murch off as a rich, self-absorbed WotP school, but that is really not the case. I think all of us who value quality eduction should take a minute to contact Bowser and Niles on Murch's behalf. I'd also add Council Member David Grosso to the list.

Thank you, Jeff. As a Murch parent, I appreciate your support and really hope others in the community will support us as we try to get DCPS/DGS to finally do right by this school. The ways this little community is getting beaten down is shameful and seemingly never-ending.

[Anonymous]

Wow, just wow. Definitely encourage the Murch families with proximity preference to check out Hearst Open House on Friday at 9:15. Not sure you can get in OOB anymore, but worth a shot. The daily logistics will be about the same for families on the southern Murch boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And then when you think about what DCPS has sunk into Ellington and Dunbar, you come to the conclusion that Bowser and DCPS hate young non-poor children.

Most of those decisions predate Bowser; it's the old "Chocolate City" Democrat machine in action. Now personified in Bowser.

What would it take for a more capable and inclusive leader to win DC's Democratic primary next time?

Bowser was on the Council, so she is not blameless.

I think Catania would have been more capable and inclusive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:This is outrageous. There is no other word for it. I think we should try to help Murch out here.

If you follow the link in the first post of this thread, there is a request to contact Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles to request additional funding. Connect information in here:

http://murchschool.org/contact-information-for-city-leadership/

and a sample letter is here:

http://murchschool.org/sample-letter-to-mayor-bowser-on-underfunding-of-murch-modernization/
(put this in your own words)

I know that it is easy to write Murch off as a rich, self-absorbed WotP school, but that is really not the case. I think all of us who value quality eduction should take a minute to contact Bowser and Niles on Murch's behalf. I'd also add Council Member David Grosso to the list.

Thank you, Jeff. As a Murch parent, I appreciate your support and really hope others in the community will support us as we try to get DCPS/DGS to finally do right by this school. The ways this little community is getting beaten down is shameful and seemingly never-ending.

Thank you from another Murch parent as well. And many thanks to you who don't have kids at Murch who will also take a moment to write.

[Anonymous]

If the mayor continues to pour money into Ellington while screwing other schools I can totally see how Ellington could become a target and end up vandalized. It's crazy to balk at $10 million when according to the Auditor's Report, Ellington was slated to be $107 MILLION over budget...and that was when the report came out last summer. It's probably bigger now. How can they be so blatant in their favoritism? There needs to be a national story on this...something that will shame Bowser into doing the right thing. 60 Minutes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think there needs to be a lawsuit at this point. Duke Ellington is millions and millions over budget and an audit reveals that millions were lost with no clear accounting.

Roosevelt was just completed and it is a mansion now (it absolutely needed the renovation...not questioning that at all) but I would be very surprised if it too didn't go over budget.

How about Cardozo?

Time to sue DCPS and DGS and the Mayor's Office into doing the right thing by the Murch community (I do not live there and my children do not attend there).

$10 million is chump change in comparison to the horrendous Duke Ellington project cost overruns. And clearly DCPS and the Bowser administration take the Murch community for chumps.

It's shocking that Duke Ellington seems to get a gilded pass and a blank check from the District government, because of a couple of powerful supporters. It's even more concerning when one realizes that 80-85% of Duke Ellington's operating budget and all of its renovation costs are being paid for by DC taxpayers, yet the DC government (not the mayor, not the council, not the schools chancellor) has not a single representative on Ellington's board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And then when you think about what DCPS has sunk into Ellington and Dunbar, you come to the conclusion that Bowser and DCPS hate young non-poor children.

Most of those decisions predate Bowser; it's the old "Chocolate City" Democrat machine in action. Now personified in Bowser.

What would it take for a more capable and inclusive leader to win DC's Democratic primary next time?

Bowser was on the Council, so she is not blameless.

I think Catania would have been more capable and inclusive.

But he was running as an Independent. We need someone able to win the Democratic primary.

Or, as some PPs pointed earlier, a good lawsuit against the city.

No taxation without representation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:This is outrageous. There is no other word for it. I think we should try to help Murch out here.

If you follow the link in the first post of this thread, there is a request to contact Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennifer Niles to request additional funding. Connect information in here:

http://murchschool.org/contact-information-for-city-leadership/

and a sample letter is here:

http://murchschool.org/sample-letter-to-mayor-bowser-on-underfunding-of-murch-modernization/
(put this in your own words)

I know that it is easy to write Murch off as a rich, self-absorbed WotP school, but that is really not the case. I think all of us who value quality eduction should take a minute to contact Bowser and Niles on Murch's behalf. I'd also add Council Member David Grosso to the list.

Thank you, Jeff. As a Murch parent, I appreciate your support and really hope others in the community will support us as we try to get DCPS/DGS to finally do right by this school. The ways this little community is getting beaten down is shameful and seemingly never-ending.

Thank you from another Murch parent as well. And many thanks to you who don't have kids at Murch who will also take a moment to write.

You are quite welcome! I am trying to get other ward 4 residents to write in as well. This is SHAMEFUL.

-OP

[Anonymous]

What was the final decision about the swing space? Where will it be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And then when you think about what DCPS has sunk into Ellington and Dunbar, you come to the conclusion that Bowser and DCPS hate young non-poor children.

Most of those decisions predate Bowser; it's the old "Chocolate City" Democrat machine in action. Now personified in Bowser.

What would it take for a more capable and inclusive leader to win DC's Democratic primary next time?

Bowser was on the Council, so she is not blameless.

I think Catania would have been more capable and inclusive.

But he was running as an Independent. We need someone able to win the Democratic primary.

Or, as some PPs pointed earlier, a good lawsuit against the city.

No taxation without representation.

Why not start by dragging Mary Cheh to an urgent meeting with Murch parents, and demanding that $10 million be shaved from Duke Ellington's "bling palace" project and re-allocated to Murch?! What would be a modest cut for Ellington (currently about a $200 million renovation and still climbing ) would mean a very significant difference to Murch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What was the final decision about the swing space? Where will it be?

1 yr UDC, 1 yr onsite.